


miyagi paper, karasuno branch

by donkatsu



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Multi, The Office AU, There may be angst, god i just love these guys and this show, slow updates!! but im really psyched about this project so just u guys wait!, so please, take it, theres love, theres pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:34:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23704708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donkatsu/pseuds/donkatsu
Summary: it's the office, but make it karasuno. other schools are other branches, and kageyama is a pining mess. no rivalry, just straight pining.
Relationships: Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, More to come, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 28
Kudos: 80





	1. Chapter 1

The camera crew files into the room, mostly ignored by the employees of Miyagi Paper, Karasuno branch. They introduce themselves quickly and say to keep working as if they weren't there. Of course, as people with a solid will to ignore anything strange, out of place, or possibly alarming do, the Karasuno branch and the camera crew got along just fine. 

"Hinata," says Daichi, coming out of his office. "Did I get any messages from corporate? I just got a call from Ushijima that said that I missed a meeting down there."

Nishinoya rolls over on his office chair. "No, he did not. Because the only place that messages from corporate go is?" He points a pen at the receptionist.

"T-the wastebin," finishes Hinata, glancing uncomfortably at the camera [redacted] is holding from behind the receptionist counter.

There's an audible snap, and the camera zooms into the broken pen in Daichi's hand. Kageyama visibly pales at his desk. Nishinoya begins to run.

-

"Hello? Hello? Is the mic on?" 

Subject SD is currently in his office to participate in an interview.

"I am Sawamura Daichi, manager of the Karasuno branch. I have been working here for- three years? I am here because my branch has been chosen to be in this documentary about the everyday lives of workers. Is there anything you want or need to know?"

[redacted]

"Who the people in the office are? Oh. Like an introduction thing?"

[redacted]

"Oh, okay. Uh, let's start with sales. We have Kageyama Tobio, and he is one of the most persistent salesmen I have ever met. He's good at what he does, good at getting people to do what he says for them to do, like buy paper from us, and is pretty dedicated to the job."

The camera pans over to Kageyama Tobio [Subject KT], whose desktop has solitaire open on the screen, zooming on him laughing at a joke that the receptionist, Hinata Shouyou [Subject HS], had made. [redacted] notes that they might be attracted to each other. 

[redacted]

"Him? That's Hinata Shouyou. He's our receptionist and sometimes doesn't keep track of things like he's supposed to, but Sugawara Koushi [Subject SK]from accounting helps him out."

[redacted]

"I'm not supposed to say anything about our employees and what relationships they might be in, but I'll make an exception. Hinata is engaged to a guy named Terushima [Subject T]. He works in the warehouse downstairs, and he's a good worker."

Subject SD points at Subject TK, a blond man. "That's Tsukishima Kei. He's snarky and has a terrible attitude, but he's a good guy when you get to know him. The guy in front of him is Yamaguchi Tadashi [Subject YT]. He's a sweet kid, and somehow is the only one that Tsukishima is moderately nice to. And that guy over there, the normal looking one? He's Ennoshita Chikara. He's the only one that can control the sales department."

[redacted]

"Oh, yeah. That's Nishinoya Yuu [Subject NY] and Tanaka Ryunosuke [Subject TR], also from sales. They're a rambunctious pair, and they give me a lot of headaches and reports from HR."

The camera focuses in on the two men crowding around a desk, where a woman [redacted] finds attractive sits. 

"That's Kiyoko Shimizu [Subject KS]. She works in accounting and- hey!"

Subject SD looks through the office's windows and makes his way to the door to scold Subject NY and Subject TR. Method of scolding: yelling, losing temper.

"Stop bothering Shimizu, you idiots!"

-

It's been a slow day at the Karasuno office. Like, yeah, there's a camera crew that infiltrated the office and told them to act like they weren't here, but whatever. Nishinoya and Tanaka had only been yelled at once, and the accounting and HR people were just... there. There was only so much paper that could be sold in one day after all, right? 

Kageyama walks over to the reception, helping himself to the milk candies that are stored in a tiny floral designed bowl placed on top of the counter. 

"What is it?" Hinata asks, looking up from his important work disguised as doodles. Ignoring him, Kageyama peers over the top of the counter to take a peek, only for the notebook to be covered by Hinata's arm. "If you don't want to tell me, please go away. As you can see, I'm very busy." 

"Mhm," hums Kageyama. "Nice scribbles." He tries to lean over the counter to snatch it, but alas, his arms have a limit to their length once the notebook is pulled back. Hinata slaps away his hand and does Kageyama the favor of holding the notebook up for him to see. It's beautiful. It's an image of him hunched over, looking into his computer with a glazed look in his eyes. Drawing-Tobio is probably playing Minesweeper. "Is that... George Clooney? I'd recognize that jawline anywhere."

"I was drawing a donkey."

Kageyama's about to retort when Terushima decides to come into the office and Kageyama's easy mood immediately grows dark. 

"Hey honey," greets Terushima easily, walking in like he owns the place. 

"Oh, hi!" Hinata just positively beams, and Kageyama suddenly feels an ache in his ribcage. Man, he hates Terushima. He's so stupid with his attractive crop cut and tongue piercing and- he's just going to stop spiraling. He notices the camera- waiting, watching- and gives a little salute, walking back to his desk. He tries his best not to look at the _engaged_ couple, staring at the computer. Yeah, he gives the mouse a couple of clicks, but the solitaire cards don't budge. 

Tsukishima watches him, eye twitching every time the mouse makes another click. Kageyama makes note of this and immediately clicks two times per second. "Kageyama, could you kindly shut up?"

"Shut what up? I didn't say anything."

Tsukishima's face, so normally calm, is beginning to look a little scary at this point. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Oh wait, you're probably too busy stalking the lovebirds over there." He nods at the two people who shall not be named, and Kageyama starts clicking even faster. He can _feel_ the impending explosion coming, but whatever. Tsukishima deserves it. Tanaka and Nishinoya aren't even there to witness the glory of his masterpiece because they've almost landed another HR suit with Kiyoko. 

Yamaguchi, coming back from the printer, whacks Kageyama lightly on the shoulder with a bunch of pamphlets. "Stop pissing him off."

"Fine," Kageyama grumbles. Yamaguchi may be a pushover when it came to Tsukishima, but he didn't want to get on Yamaguchi's bad side. One intern once gave Tsukishima a backhanded compliment and ended up transferring to the Aoba Johsai branch thanks to light "suggestion" by Yamaguchi. The rest of the day passes easily, and Kageyama forgets about Hinata and Terushima for a while. When Terushima goes downstairs, he can feel himself relaxing.

He'll steal a few glances at the reception desk, most of them returned with a smile from Hinata. His heart gives a little flip each time. His hand almost clutches his chest several times. This isn't loving, right? This isn't what it is. It's just him being happy to have someone to talk to. Yeah. That's it. Don't be stupid. He's engaged, you're single. Terushima's ripped, you're not that bad. Kageyama probably couldn't take him in a fight though.

They're just friends. Best friends. He sits back in his seat and stares at the finished solitaire game, cards bouncing around everywhere. It's problematic, to like a friend this much. He should probably just... bury his feelings. Lay back on the staring a little, the stolen glances. He knows it's terrible to even joke around with Hinata like that, but does he want to stop? God, everything he has with Hinata is just... easy. That's the only way to describe it. When talking, he feels like they've known each other their whole lives, not just a whole year. 

As pretentious as it sounds, it's like they have a connection with each other. Their inside jokes come easy, their bickering comes just _as_ easy, if not more. They'll have stupid conversations, Kageyama bringing a manila file to the reception desk with random papers shoved inside so that if Daichi comes out from his office and sees him not working, he can pretend he's just asking Hinata about a file. They'll talk about Nishida Yuuji and how Kageyama was his setter in high school, what convenience store sells the best pork buns, which street market downtown is the best- stupid stuff like that. 

Hinata, of course, will tell him about his sister in turn. She's in high school now and she has a boyfriend that rubs Hinata the wrong way, and Hinata will show him her Instagram photos every once in a while. Kageyama has met Natsu a whopping total of one time, and even then that was when Hinata had to print something out for her before dropping her off back to school. (Hinata had called in for a fake doctor's appointment so that she could hand in her project on time. Tsukishima had gotten annoyed at the layout of her presentation board and fixed it up before she left.)

He's thinking about how Hinata would look in his highschool's volleyball jersey when his phone rings. Expecting another disgruntled accountant, he answers in a flat greeting. "Kageyama Tobio from Karasuno. How may I help you?"

"Heyo Tobio-chan!" 

He immediately resists the urge to sigh. "Oikawa, if you wanted to call me, you have my number."

"Yeah, but then I can't bother you at work!" Oikawa giggles, that bastard, and starts humming into the receiver. Kageyama hangs up instantly.

He sees Tsukishima give him an annoyed look out of the corner of his eye and flips him off. Tsukishima makes a choking sound, about to say something when the bossman walks out from his office. "Sugawara, can I see you in my office?"

Sugawara, who had been doing nothing at his desk but yawning, immediately perks up. "Okay!" He practically skips over to Daichi's office, patting Nishinoya's hair and giving Tanaka a noogie as they leave the office to trudge into the conference room for their timeout session. Yamaguchi, Tsukishima, and Kageyama all exchange glances. 

"There's no way they're not dating," says Yamaguchi quietly.

Ennoshita, who had been making his way to the breakroom, interjects. "10 bucks they're not."

The trio of younger workers scoff. "Yeah right," says Tsukishima. "I'll get in on that action. These two idiots too."

"I have an idea." 

Everybody in the office turns to look at Kageyama. "I bet half of my clients that they're dating." The office riots, surrounding the sales department.

Asahi, accounting, looks nervous. "Guys, we shouldn't get too excited. Daichi will notice."

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Nishinoya and Tanaka appear, disregarding their punishment. "Ennoshita, be a man! If they are dating, you're gonna have to give something to Kageyama!"

"Fine. I'll be his wingman for the dumbest receptionist alive." Kageyama can _feel_ his face turning a disgusting shade of red, warmth suddenly rushing all over his face.

Kageyama can see Hinata visibly perking up from his desk at the sound of his name, a fluff of orange hair peeking over the top. "What's going on?" 

Ennoshita raises an eyebrow as if to say _see?_ He stretches out a hand, eyebrow still raised, and Kageyama takes it with narrowed eyes and a weary mind. 

"Oh, nothing," responds Ennoshita, finally breaking eye contact with Kageyama. "Just talking."

"About what?" Hinata chirps. "I wanna know! Kageyama!"

"Hm?" Kageyama looks up from biting his nail. 

"Kageyama, tell me what's going on? Please?" Oh, god no. Oh god, please, no. The doe eyes. Not the doe eyes, oh god. Not listening to him would be like choking a little mermaid with a bike chain. He bites his nails again. 

"It's nothing!" That felt like a punch in the face. He rubs his jaw where he feels an ache, a phantom pain. Tsukishima scoffs at him, and the office turns to face him. "Whipped," he mouths, and the whole office nods in agreement. Kageyama can't do much to deny it, so he stays silent. 

Hinata sighs and pouts behind the counter, grumbling over and over. "Bakageyama!" 

Kageyama lurches forward, head thumping against his desk. Ennoshita moves to cover him, blocking him from Hinata's view. "You're a strong man, dude. Too bad he's an idiot."

"I know," he moans. "I hate this."


	2. relationships?!

“I don’t know why you want to be my wingman, considering how I don’t like Hinata,” exclaims Kageyama in the breakroom to the audience of basically the whole office. The cameramen sit in the corner of the room, behind Yachi and Kiyoko comparing bento boxes from Instagram.

Disbelief is as clear as day on their faces and Kageyama can’t help but bristle. “I’m telling the truth! He’s just… nice to talk to.”

Ennoshita groans, rubbing a hand over his face. “You’re as dense as a brick, idiot. Is that really how you’d describe your relationship with that beam of sunshine?”

“Wha-” His face burns red. He can feel it sweep over his cheeks and reach the tips of his ears. 

“Are you really blushing because of the word relationship?” Tsukishima snaps, slamming his chopsticks to the table. “What a child. Get used to it. That’s what connections are called between people- relationships. Hell, even you and I have a relationship.”

Kageyama’s mind basically inverts on itself.

“I- as if I would be in a relationship with you, stupid! Y-you’re not my type!” Kageyama blusters.

Tsukishima gapes at him. The camera pans to Yamaguchi preparing to physically restrain him from lunging at the man who recently had his mind blown.

-

“I am Kageyama Tobio [Subject KT] and I am a salesman at Miyagi Paper, Karasuno Branch.” He bows a little to the camera in his chair, the conference room’s window showing his desk behind him through the blinds. The slither.io loading screen, with its vibrant purple, is fully visible on his computer. 

[redacted]

“How much I work on a normal day? I make my sales calls and finish all of my spreadsheets in the morning. Then… I just spend time talking to Hinata or distract myself until the end of the workday.”

[redacted]

“Uh, I’ve only been reprimanded by Daichi once because he didn’t know that I finished all my work. I told him about what I finished though.”

[redacted]

“My friends in the Aoba Johsai branch? I don’t have any.”

[redacted]

“Oikawa Tooru absolutely is  _ not  _ my friend.”

-

“Aw, Tobio-chan said that? I’m actually kinda hurt.” 

Oikawa Tooru [Subject OT] sits in his branch’s conference room, Iwaizumi Hajime [Subject IH] standing behind the door to make sure that Subject OT behaves himself. [redacted] finds it important to mention that Subject OT is the branch manager, not Subject IH.

“We’ve known each other since middle school! It’s not my fault that he hates me. I guess he’s just jealous of how much attention I get from girls in our company.”

[redacted] chooses to stay silent.

-

“Oikawa said that? That’s not true at all.” Kageyama grits his teeth.

[redacted]

“We have a rocky past, and I don’t get along well with the people at the Aoba Johsai branch. The only person that I have something resembling friendship with is Iwaizumi Hajime [Subject IH].” 

[redacted]

“H-Hinata? What about him?]

[redacted]

“We’re just friends! I- he’s just my best friend! Nothing more! We talk a lot during work, but that’s just because w-we sit so close to each other!”

-

“I am Tsukishima Kei [Subject TK] and I hate my job.”

[redacted]

“Yeah, I honestly thought that I’d become a teacher or something, because I got such high grades in highschool and university. Instead, I got stuck here with most of my highschool friends. ‘Oh, it’s a good investment opportunity! It’s going to be a good time!’ They totally lied to me.”

[redacted]

“What I think about Hinata and Kageyama? God, Kageyama’s so stupid that everytime I look at his face I want to die. Hinata is just an energetic ball of sunshine that just will not file my messages properly. At least he transfers my calls to my desk, which is something. He didn’t even know how to put people on hold at first. Thank god for Sugawara.”

[redacted]

“Yamaguchi? What about him?”

[redacted]

“Close? Well… I mean… yeah. That’s one way to put it.”

[redacted] would like to mention that Subject TK has turned red.

-

Kageyama volleys to himself in bed, hoodie pulled over his wet hair. Having just taken a shower at home, he rests in his bed to collect his thoughts and- well, himself. The rhythmic pattern of his fingers contacting the volleyball at the same time is oddly soothing, so he shuts off all unnecessary noise. However, he lets himself think, mind wandering.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump- tha-thump. 

He opens his eyes to the sight of the ball spinning thanks to his fingers hitting the ball at different times. His breath hitches. He hasn’t messed up volleying in bed in years; he practically invented the thing. There’s a creeping suspicion that the subject of his thoughts had thrown him off, but he quickly tamps down on it, beats it up figuratively in his head. 

No way. That’s what happens when your coworkers shove their non-platonic ideals on what your “relationship” should be with your goddamn best friend nonstop. It’s ridiculous. All he wanted was to just keep this- this thing between them going for as long as he could. Until Hinata finally got m- got married.

Oh god, Hinata was going to be married. One day, he’ll look across the office to see that smile only to see that Terushima had made Hinata move to Tokyo. Kageyama’s heard all about the plans that Terushima had created for the couple once they finally set a marriage date (it’s been three years. Three whole years). 

Kageyama groans, throwing the ball against the empty wall beside his bed. It bounces off and rolls under his work desk, nestled between wires and computer stuff his sister set up for him. He grumbles, curling up on his bed. Terushima’s kind of an ass. He flirts with Kiyoko right in front of Hinata, and makes comments about other girls and guys that an engaged guy shouldn’t be making. Especially in front of his fiancee. Especially when that guy is a literal mandarin coloured puppy. 

Terushima has also, on more than one occasion, forgotten that the two of them had been engaged. Just thinking about it has Kageyama’s blood boiling. Hinata could do better. It’s completely not his place to think that but he can’t help but say so in his head. 

He falls asleep thinking about what life would be like if they had met as rivals in high school, dreaming of all of his favourite things: volleyball, milk and yogurt drinks, pork curry with an egg, and… Hinata.

-

Kageyama has hidden every single one of Tsukishima’s dinosaurs that he keeps on his desk. He deserves it, what with him making coughing sounds every time he walks over to reception. 

“Wha- where are my dinosaurs, idiot?” Tsukishima demands, glaring into Kageyama’s eyes. If looks could kill, that one would’ve been first-degree murder. Kageyama puts on an innocent, confused face, shrugging. “Oh come on, I know it was you. Confess.”

Kageyama continues to give him a blank face as Tsukishima prowls around the desks of salesmen. Tsukishima had gone to the washroom, and it wasn’t hard to take the little plastic dinosaurs and scatter them among Sugawara’s gnome and fairy toys that he leaves all over his own desk. 

“You. Yeah, you, shorty. Open your desk drawer.”

NIshinoya’s mouth goes agape and a furious expression sweeps over his face. “What did you call me?”

“Just- open.”

Nishinoya yanks the drawer open and lo and behold: an empty drawer- if the Kiyoko polaroids go ignored. At the sight of the pictures, Nishinoya pales and slams the drawer shut, stammering half-finished excuses. Tsukishima’s face becomes even colder and Kageyama swears that the room’s temperature dropped ten degrees.

Tanaka whistles at one of the photos dropped on the ground and, unfortunately, catches Daichi’s attention. Needless to say, Kageyama had to apologize to Tsukishima, who had to apologize to Nishinoya, who had to apologize to Kiyoko. All in all, it was kind of an okay day.

-

“Did he find his dinosaurs?” Hinata asks as Kageyama comes up with a binder in hand. 

He shrugs. “To find… is an abstract subject. Will you ever really find out who you are and what you are? You’ll never know.”

“Oh shut up, nerd. That didn’t even make sense!”

Hinata’s smile at Kageyama being dumb made his heart skip a beat. If that’s the reaction he’d get from saying stupid stuff, he’d gladly become the dumbest idiot alive for him. God, he’s whipped. He doesn’t realize that Hinata is talking to him until he frowns.

“-ama? Are you okay?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, yeah.” Kageyama drags his hand down his face, sighing. “It’s been a rough few days. Haven’t gotten a lot of sleep recently.”

Hinata’s frown deepens, and Kageyama’s ready for a scolding when Daichi walks out of the office. Everybody gasps when they see Daichi’s hand in Sugawara’s. 

“Everyone, I have an announcement to make.”

Takeda and Ukai, the HR reps, come out from the annex. Tanaka tosses Takeda a lollipop from his desk, which he doesn’t catch- but Ukai catches it when it rebounds off of Takeda’s chest and hands it over to him. Takeda’s face turns scarlet. 

“Takeda, Sugawara and I would like to file a consensual relationship agreement form,” Daichi says. 

Kageyama sees white for a second as Tanaka and Nishinoya riot. Ennoshita comes up from behind him and pats him on the shoulder.

“Alright, time for work.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope u guys enjoyed this!! stay safe honeys


	3. forbidden

Ennoshita walks in a little late, everybody already settled into their daily routines- except for a _certain_ couple. You know, with a certain orange-haired munchkin and a guy that works at the same company: Hinata and Terushima. 

He sees Kageyama at his desk, glancing over and over at the laughing couple while typing away at his keyboard. When he looks at the screen, the text is as is: _dfwpoeriot f bu t0wot ew jio fjdjsfjjsd ftnut etieit ?_ _jwjaooook dfsji hinata hintat hintata noooooo wj_ **_sdmn eevryy thime GOD HINATA HES NIT RIGHT FOR YOU S-PEOI PLAES_ **

Ennoshita considers telling Kageyama to focus on his work, but he settles on hovering behind Kageyama’s shoulder until he notices. His plan is in action.

“Agh!” screams Kageyama, effectively silencing the whole office. Daichi’s malicious aura slips out of his office, and Ennoshita is caught running away. 

-

“You know, your face looks better when you smile,” Hinata mutters while clicking away at something on his screen. Kageyama looks up next to him, his frustrated frown contorting in confusion. 

Both of them were held after work with Ennoshita, Hinata being kept after only because he messed up some paperwork Sugawara wasn’t able to catch. Ennoshita sits in the annex alone, wriggling his eyebrows. But half an hour ago, they had quite the conversation.

“I negotiated with Daichi with the whole punishment thing. I screwed up some of Hinata's paperwork on purpose- I feel kinda bad about that. He did it so well too. Anyways,” Ennoshita says, waving Kageyama away when he asks for an explanation, “use this opportunity wisely. Spend time with him, dummy.”

Half an hour later, Kageyama narrows his eyes. It’s currently 11:05 pm, and they have yet to finish all the work. “I… look better when I smile?”

Hinata hums an affirmative, eyes still locked on his screen. Maybe it’s the dim lights or the lack of full awareness due to staying up late, but Kageyama misses the red flush that swarms Hinata’s face and the back of his neck. The receptionist stays silent, now typing at an amazing pace. 

Kageyama doesn’t know how to respond. His heart pounds at an alarming rate, and he clenches and unclenches his fist. _Hinata thinks I look good when I smile. I didn’t even know I_ do _smile. He looks good when he smiles. He looks great when he smiles. I guess I just smile when I’m around him naturally._

“What?” Kageyama looks up to see Hinata with a confused smile on his face, and the realization hits him. He’d spoken aloud. It’s happened once or twice when he had gotten tired before, but of all times, it had to have happened now. Around the person he was _very_ infatuated with. 

“I- um… how’s your day going?” He’s desperate to change the subject, and he prays that Hinata will take the bait, however poor it is. 

Hinata shrugs, still looking at him weirdly. “I’m doing fine, I guess. You think I look good when I smile?”

“Great,” he corrects quickly- too quickly. Oh god, this is getting out of hand. There are three things wrong with this scenario: Hinata is engaged, Hinata is engaged, and Kageyama is: not the one he is engaged to. 

“Oh, yes, great when I smile. That’s really sweet.”

Kageyama’s heart, oh god, he can hear it roaring in his ears. For some reason, as close as they are already, he just wants to touch him so badly. It doesn’t matter if he brushes his shoulder with a tentative hand or ruffles his stupid hair, every fiber of his being wants to reach out and _touch._ This is terrible. He’s never yearned for something so much before. But this wanting and yearning is dangerous; it’s been culminating for years, and in the empty office that holds only the two of them (save Ennoshita), it leaps at the opportunity. 

He finds that his cheeks hurt for some reason, and it’s because his mouth had been pulled up into a smile this whole time. When he tries to clamp it back down into a neutral position, he can feel it resisting against his will. It’s insane. He doesn’t even register that his mouth opens to say something.

“I think you’re great.” Kageyama can’t believe he just said that. They silent for a while, staring at each other. They probe each other with their eyes and they can’t say anything until Hinata takes a deep breath. 

“You- you shouldn’t say stuff like that,” Hinata whispers, the room now too quiet. There’s a tension in the room that makes the two of them lower their voices. For some reason, it’s oddly intimate. Kageyama’s chest tightens, and he’s leaning in closer to Hinata. Hinata leans back for a second, only to lean back in. “Kageyama, I- I’m engaged, you know that.”

Just like that, his brain stops working. Kageyama stiffens, holding his position. He’s inches away from Hinata’s face and his body is _screaming_ at him to grab Hinata’s stupid face and pull him in. To lock lips, to taste him. But his mind and his heart are hurt. “I know that, dumbass. Forget I even said anything anyways; it was an accident.” He leans back, trying to work but ending up staring blankly at his papers.

He sits there for a while until Hinata speaks up.

“Why- why are you always so nice to me? Why do you always come over here and, you know, talk to me and joke with me?” Hinata suddenly has tears in his eyes and Kageyama’s heart pangs. “Why do you always make me feel so confused?”

Now Kageyama is confused. What? He asks Hinata what he means, and the tears begin to well up even more. 

“You treat me so much nicer than Terushima, and you’re just so much fun to be around. You steal my candies and like to interrupt my calls, and sometimes you’re just a real jerk when you get teased too much by Tsukishima. But you… you make me feel… weird. Terushima doesn’t joke with me like you do. You know how he is. He flirts with people right in front of me, but I love him. I really do. But whenever I look at you, I just- I don’t know anymore!”

He gapes at the crying receptionist, unable to say anything. He… makes Hinata feel weird. He’s getting scolded for, what being nice to him? Kageyama’s feelings are being whipped one way to the other, and he’s now also confused. “I’m sorry” is the only thing that comes into Kageyama’s mind, so he blurts it out. For some reason, that just makes Hinata cry harder. 

He wheels his office chair closer, pulling Hinata into his shoulder to lean on. The other man sobs into his shirt, and Kageyama brings his hand up to pat his hair in a hopefully soothing manner. This isn’t how tonight was supposed to go. Actually, he doesn’t even know how it _was_ supposed to go. Ugh, he messed everything up. 

“I’m really sorry, Hinata. I didn’t mean to make you upset. Ever.” 

Kageyama thinks for a while, a real shocker to Tsukishima, probably. He tries to understand what the current scenario is and how to fix it, but he just doesn’t get it. He lets Hinata cry, and with his tears, Kageyama’s heart breaks silently. He didn’t mean for that to happen. He didn’t mean to fall for Hinata in the first place. Yeah, at first he was a real jerk over terrible paperwork. But now… now? Everything is just different than before. 

Before he knew it, he had caught feelings for Hinata and stopped yelling at him over everything. Stopped berating him over mistakes in his paperwork, over calls not transferred to him. This job at this shitty workplace ended up being ‘this job that I work at to see Hinata’. Past-Kageyama, ever so ambitious and power-hungry at a stupid paper company, would be disgusted with the way he’s acting with the _receptionist_ of the office, of all people. But the present Kageyama, who he is now? He wouldn’t give it up for anything. 

After all, he gets to see Hinata smile way more often. 

“You okay now?” Hinata’s shoulders have finally stopped shaking, but Kageyama still continues to rub his hand along Hinata’s side. When he realizes how it probably isn’t helping, he pulls away. To his surprise, however, Hinata moves back closer. 

“I’m fine now. Sorry you had to see that.”

Kageyama flushes red. “It’s okay. I’d rather be there for you than not.”

It sounded a bit stilted, but it’s the truth. 

“Can we stay like this for a little while longer?” Hinata asks, burying his face into Kageyama’s now slightly damp shirt. He nods, putting his arm around Hinata again. 

Kageyama feels a question rising within him, but Hinata beats him to it. 

“We’re still best friends, right?”

“Of course,” he splutters in shock. “This doesn’t change anything.”

Hinata laughs, but it sounds forced. “Thanks, Bakageyama.”

“Now that’s an insult I haven’t heard in a while.”

“And… I’m engaged. I’m going to marry Terushima.”

“Mhm,” whispers Kageyama heavily. 

“I- maybe… maybe you can give me some space. Just to figure my feelings out.”

“Oh.” Kageyama pulls away a bit, just to literally give him some space. However, Hinata _still_ pulls closer. “What?”

“Um... “ Hinata looks embarrassed. “Starting tomorrow?”

“Okay.” Kageyama can’t do anything but agree. Whatever Hinata wants, he shall have. 

They keep holding each other, talking for a while then staying silent for the next. They don’t realize how heavy their eyelids get until Kageyama finds Hinata barely snoring next to him, and that activates the siren call of sleep for him too.

It’s Ennoshita who finds them at one in the morning, having already finished his work. He sees Kageyama’s work, unfinished, and the two of them are sleeping against each other. He smiles at the two of them, sleeping so peacefully. He grabs Kageyama’s work, shoves it in his bag to work on later, and gently wakes the two of them up.

“Wh-wha?”

“You guys gotta go,” says Ennoshita quietly. “It’s getting late and I’m worried security locked us in here. I got anime to watch, guys.”

Kageyama doesn’t know which one is more alarming: the fact that Ennoshita watches anime or the fact that they might get locked in the office. He scrambles out of his chair, but not before catching Hinata, who he’d forgotten was laying atop of him. 

“Get your stuff,” whispers Ennoshita. “You’re gonna have to carry him down. I’ll drive you guys back home.”

Kageyama nods, settling Hinata into a more upright position. He gets his jacket, his briefcase, and two milk candies from Hinata’s candy bowl. When Ennoshita gives him a look, he just shrugs. In his half-asleep reverie, Kageyama doesn’t notice his missing work. He puts Hinata’s jacket on for him and gathers Hinata’s belongings. When he’s sure he’s good to go, he gives a thumbs up to his senior. 

“Let’s go, kid.”

Kageyama picks Hinata up, bridal style, and makes his way to the elevator with Ennoshita. They walk out of the office, giving the security guard, Aone, a nod. In the parking lot, it’s way colder than it was inside the office, and he feels Hinata begin to shiver. He pulls Hinata in closer. Ennoshita helps him get Hinata into the car without hitting his head, and soon enough, they were all driving out of the parking lot. 

“So,” asks Ennoshita. “How’d it go?”

“I have to give him space.”

The car squeals to a stop, Ennoshita glaring at Kageyama. Luckily for them, it’s a red light, and there are barely any cars at one in the morning on a Tuesday. Well, technically Wednesday.

“What the hell? Then why were you two sleeping next to each other?”

“I… He said I make him confused. He said that I treat him better than Terushima but that he’s still gonna marry him. He said that he loved Terushima.”

Ennoshita glances at the sleeping receptionist in the backseat. “He said that? How do you feel about it?”

“Honestly?” Ennoshita nods. “I’m pretty fucking mad. I’m also confused and angry and-” He cuts himself off. 

Ennoshita nods solemnly, and Kageyama sees that he understands. He continues.

“I’m not just confused and angry, I’m confused and angry at _myself._ I never intended for him to get caught up in all of my feelings, and I don’t like the fact that I didn’t hold myself back from falling in love with an engaged person. It makes me… it makes me feel sick.”

There’s a silence that engulfs the car, and Ennoshita urges it forward. Slowly, the streetlights outside begin to blur as they move forward. 

“But I like him so much. I don’t understand why he stays with Terushima, after all that he’s done to him. Hinata’s right though.”

“Right about what?”

“I should give him space. All this shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

“What? Why are you giving up on him?”

“I don’t want to be the one that ruins his engagement just to be the petty villain from a k-drama. I don’t want to be the one that makes him confused and upset. I want to respect his wishes, you know? I’m going to love him, all the time. It just won’t be _with_ him.”

Ennoshita sighs, stopping at another red light. He brings his head down to rest on the steering wheel. “Fine. But I’ll have you know, I’m losing a huge amount of money on this. Half of the office is going to be $350 richer tomorrow.”

Kageyama chuckles silently. “Sorry, Ennoshita." He guesses that’s it. As quick as the romance bud, it was high time to cut it off. A forbidden romance? That’s something for fairy tales and dramas and manga. It’s not for him. 


End file.
